REMERA - A Community Hall for the society of Kinyinya Genocide survivors, constructed by members of Britain’s Conservative Party in collaboration with the Survivors’ Fund, is nearing completion.

Construction of the building was spearheaded by the Conservatives when the survivors expressed a need for a community centre to bring them together and facilitate their income-generating activities.

"For long, we have been in need of a community centre to help us in many aspects. For instance, many of our youth who didn’t go to school will learn art and craft skills,” commented Albert Musabyimana, the president of AFABEF, a cooperative for genocide survivors in Kinyinya.

During an interview The New Times had with various people in this community, a community hall ranked number one among their priority needs.

"This hall will be used for conducting trainings, sensitization seminars, meetings to evaluate our progress as well as an academic centre for children’s revision and learning,” added Musabyimana.

The Conservatives  through the Survivors Fund, donated £18,000 , for the construction of the centre. However, the total cost for the construction went above £30,000.

According to the head of the  delegation who is also a Conservative party Member of Parliament, Tobias Ellwood, members of the delegation working with the Kinyinya Genocide survivors are happy to find that the beneficiaries are actively involved in their projects.

"We have come here to put a bigger smile on the Rwandan community. We are so impressed that the time we have worked with the people of Kinyinya, they have shown enthusiasm for their project…it gives us hope that whatever is put up will be sustained,” commented Tobias.

"We are here to learn and to help.We want to know more about Rwanda. We have built a wonderful Community Centre which will be a focal point for the entire village,” he added.

The Kinyinya community has several other projects such as mushroom farming and a small scale bakery. These are supported by FARG (Fund for Genocide Survivors), Imbuto Foundation and other support bodies. The survivors participate in the projects’ daily activities.

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